Trump's Commerce Secretary Pick Led a Secret Wall Street Fraternity

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/time-donald-trumps-new-commerce-secretary-led-wall-street-secret-society-dinner
"But Trump neglected to mention one of Ross' other credentials: He's connected to some of the world's most powerful investors and businessman via a secret Wall Street fraternity called Kappa Beta Phi. In January 2012, New York Times reporter Kevin Roose snuck into the society's annual black-tie induction ceremony, which was led by Ross, who at the time was the fraternity's "Grand Swipe." The fraternity, Roose wrote in his 2014 book, Young Money, was founded at the beginning of the Great Depression, and since then the induction ceremony had been subject to the utmost secrecy. The group's mantra, according to Roose, is "What happens at the St. Regis stays at the St. Regis." It's not hard to see why. At the 2012 event, Roose witnessed outlandish behavior by Ross and other financial tycoons that demonstrated vulgarity, greed, and a Wall Street callousness towards the non-wealthy masses. Some attendees made homophobic, racist, and sexist jabs about the likes of Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Others joked about the financial crisis. One even wore a confederate flag hat. And when Roose was outed as a reporter partway through the night, Ross himself took Roose into the St. Regis hotel's lobby and tried to convince him not to print the story by offering himself up as an "anytime" source for Roose's future reporting. While leading the event, Ross wore purple velvet moccasins embroidered with the fraternity's Greek letters. The group's name is an inversion of the college honor society Phi Beta Kappa, whose ruffled-sleeve logo, Ross said on the ballroom stage, is a "tacit confession of homosexuality." The main event of the night was the induction of 21 "neophytes" into the fraternity."